⁷ So the five men^(A) left and came to Laish,^(B) where they saw that the people were living in safety, like the Sidonians, at peace and secure.^(C) And since their land lacked nothing, they were prosperous.^[a] Also, they lived a long way from the Sidonians^(D) and had no relationship with anyone else.^[b]

⁸ When they returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their fellow Danites asked them, “How did you find things?”

⁹ They answered, “Come on, let’s attack them! We have seen the land, and it is very good. Aren’t you going to do something? Don’t hesitate to go there and take it over.^{(E) 10} When you get there, you will find an unsuspecting people and a spacious land that God has put into your hands, a land that lacks nothing^(F) whatever.^(G)”

¹⁰ “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: On that day thoughts will come into your mind^(A) and you will devise an evil scheme.^{(B) 11} You will say, “I will invade a land of unwalled villages; I will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people^(C)—all of them living without walls and without gates and bars.^(D)

⁷ Are these not the words the Lord proclaimed through the earlier prophets^(A) when Jerusalem and its surrounding towns were at rest^(B) and prosperous, and the Negev and the western foothills^(C) were settled?’”^(D)